Anyone had this happen? Doctors are stumped.

[MWave36]

Hello. My 82 yr old mom went to the emergency room today with a condition that caused a group of eight doctors to see her, including three cardiologists. All say they've never seen this before.

She awoke about 5:00 am (her normal time) to find that when she stood up, no matter how slowly, she will begin to faint (this isn't the freaky part). I took her blood pressure and it was 77/48 then a few minutes later 69/50. Needless to say, I then took her to the emergency room. Once there they also found her blood pressure to be alarmingly low, but her heart rate was 180 bpm! But, only for about 10 seconds. Then it immediately fell to around her normal of 75-85 bpm. Then about 20-30 seconds later it spiked again to, just for a moment, 200 bpm, then like before dropped straight down to 75-85. I was with her for nine hours and this cycle never stopped. And this event doesn't form a bell curve. She's at 75 bpm then instantly her heart's racing at 175 to 200 bpm, then about 20 seconds later her heart rate immediately drops to normal. Over and over, all day, without any significant variation (including the constantly low BP). A sonogram revealed her heart to be structurally sound, they checked all her meds, and her Oxygen stayed in the mid-90s.

She also has a stage 1 tumor in her liver and left lung, and completed her second round of chemo eleven days ago, and has not gotten sick from it (although she is starting to lose her hair). She's felt fine all week (relative for her) just as she did after the first round four weeks earlier.

So has anyone had this kind of heart rate symptom, or know anyone who has? Because there's eight doctors attending to her that haven't - and admitted they don't know what's causing it or how to treat it.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[Dolphin14]

Interesting. What is their plan for this? How was her blood work?

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Hello and welcome to the forum! This is indeed an unusual one. It sounds like Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT). Whilst this can come and stop suddenly the episodes tend to last longer. There are various treatments that range from medication to a pacemaker although I would think your mum is far from needing a pacemaker. Many years ago I saw somebody collapse and be taken to ICU. The trigger in this case was too much caffeine. It might be an idea for your mother to avoid potential triggers like caffeine, alcohol and chocolate for the time being. Good luck!

[Midgeymoo17]

I could not recommend what might cause it. However I experienced something similar a few years back. I had just had a cardiac catheter and was recovering on the ward. Was speaking to my parents and then like clockwork roughly every few minutes my heart rate would spike to just under 200 for around 60 seconds. I would become very lethargic and nauseated. My oxygen sats would drop and I would say “want to sleep” was 12 at the time. Eventually my Dad alerted the nurse to what happening and she called the on call cardiologist. Unforetunately just as he came I projectile vomited across the bay and had no more episodes. In total this probably only lasted an hour. My blood pressure during the episodes was unknown due to short duration and I was not wearing an ECG at the time.

[Ianc2]

I only worry when they call in Dr J. Anitor for a final opinion..

[MWave36]

I wish they would call in Dr. House.

[MWave36]

I wanted to thank you all for your comments. The next day my mother's BP was still low at around 86/55 but much better than it was, and her heart rate was now fluctuating from high-70s to 110-115 for only for a few seconds, and with several minutes between each episode. My mother returned home last night with a slightly low BP and normal heart rate. However, after trying three different heart medications (by IV) the docs aren't even sure this did anything or if her condition just resolved itself. They were surprisingly candid about how stumped they were, and the number of docs visiting her (and grilling her with the same series of questions) seemed to double the second day. They all seemed to be fascinated with her condition. Guess I (or she) shouldn't complain. They certainly were attentive. So, bottom line, we still don't know what caused this (she had no infections or heart disease), or how to prevent if from happening again.